Tattooed Memories
by greenikat89
Summary: Oneshot: A bar. A bet. A stupid drinking game. And all of it had led to them going to a less than reputable tattoo parlor in The Underworld.  Drinking with Reno probably wasn't the best idea Cloud ever had, but it sure produced satisfying results.  C/L


**Disclaimer:** Don't own a thing.

A/N: Another spin-off story in the 'Flavor of Love' universe. You don't have to read it for this to make sense, but it couldn't hurt in case you want to know more about the characters and relationships. Oh, featuring Reno!

Warnings: A/U, suggestive situations

* * *

Cloud wanted to die. His head was throbbing hard enough to crack his skull, his mouth felt like it was lined with carpet and dryer lint, and half his back was on fire. He moaned pitifully that did nothing for his headache and painfully rolled onto his side. His muscles twinged in sharp pain from having been awkwardly passed out face down on his kitchen floor. "I am never going to drink again," he muttered, voice so hoarse he almost didn't recognize it at first.

He pulled himself up from the floor with the aid of the kitchen counter and was rather proud he hadn't thrown up. His stomach felt like it was staging a rebellion and wanted to storm up through his throat towards freedom. He needed a shower and a gallon of coffee, but since he was already half undressed anyway the shower came first. He'd have to remember where his shirt went later because he actually liked that one.

Cloud's hand trailed along the peeling wallpaper of the hallway for support as he more or less stumbled towards the bathroom. His back was really killing him as if the skin had been stretched too tight and peeling from a bad sun burn. Hopefully there was some aspirin in his medicine cabinet that would take care of most of the pain. Squall would get out of school in half an hour and Cloud had promised they could spend the entire weekend together. Maybe they could swing by Omega on their way home (purely to use Squall's discount and not to soothe his hangover).

He passed by the bathroom mirror on his way to turn on the shower without giving his reflection much thought. Blond spikes even messier than usual, heavy bags under bloodshot eyes, white medical tape on his back. It was his usual appearance from a spectacularly bad hangover.

Wait.

Cloud stepped back towards the mirror and turned slightly around to get a better look at his back. He stared in horror at his reflection because he was _grotesquely disfigured_ if the gauze bandages covering half his back was any indication. What the fuck had he done last night? Reno was so dead the next time he saw him. Never again would he go drinking with that silver –tongued bastard.

His fingers trembled only a little bit while he carefully peeled away the medical tape to see what kind of damage and possibly scarring he was looking at. A few minutes of pulling off gauze and tape and Cloud almost _wished _it was scarring as black ink was slowly revealed. He had a tattoo. He had a tattoo of a large black wing. He had a good friend who was going to _die_.

Just as soon as he finished throwing up in the sink.

* * *

"You think this is fun for me too, yo? Elena is pissed," Reno grumbled. "As if she didn't harp on me enough about keeping a low profile as one of Rufus' bodyguards." He was sprawled out on his couch rolling a cool glass of water across his forehead to soothe his headache. Cloud was in the other chair looking slightly better than the rumpled redhead.

"At least it's not covering half of your back." Cloud had looked at the full damage after getting cleaned up. It was a graceful black demon wing; the top arching up almost towards the top of his shoulder capped with a point and the long spiked tips brushing right down the muscles of his back to disappear into the waistband of his pants. There was no way he would be able to hide this from anyone unless he never took off his shirt. He wondered if Squall would believe him if he said he'd suddenly become self-conscious of his body.

Reno made a dismissing sound and winced when it pulled the muscles in his face too tight. He reached a hand up to tenderly finger the red curved line tattoos at the outer corner of his eyes. "My stupid cousin laughed himself sick when he saw this, yo. Do you know how bad I ragged on him when he came home drunk with his tattoos?" His lips curved up as if he was reliving the memory. "He looked like a clown."

The blond tiredly scrubbed a hand across his face. Coming to Reno's apartment had seemed like a good idea at the time. On his way over the memories had slowly shuffled in some semblance of order so he could remember. A bar. A bet. A stupid drinking game. And all of it had led to them going to a less than reputable tattoo parlor in The Underworld. He was going to tear a strip out of Reno until the lanky man had opened the door with bleary eyes and he'd seen those bright red tattoos on his face. At least Cloud wasn't the only one suffering.

"How long do you think it'll be before word gets around about our drunken night out?" Cloud asked with a weary sigh. His back hurt and all he wanted to do was lean back in his chair and possibly get some much needed recovery time, preferably with Squall involved. The urge to maim had worn off an hour ago to leave him slightly hung over and very tired. He settled for leaning sideways against the arm of the chair instead.

Reno toyed with his water glass in his hand and eyed the messy glass coffee table. Rude was always after him to put drinks on coasters in that silent way of his, but they were all neatly stacked at the other end of the couch. He settled for putting the glass on the floor. "Knowing my cousin, he probably went straight to Roxas with the news," he answered. "School's out by now."

Oh, well that was fine. Roxas was pretty quiet anyway so Cloud doubted the kid was going to be spreading the news anytime soon. Except Roxas was always with Sora and Sora loved talking to everyone (a generally endearing trait of his) which meant…

Cloud's phone rang and he didn't need to see the ID to know who was calling him. "Hey kitten," he answered cheerfully, well, as cheerful as one could when still hung over.

"_What happened?" _came Squall's worried voice on the other end of the line. _"Sora told me this story about debauchery, loose women, and cards that ends in total disfigurement. And somehow your name is linked with it."_

Cloud rubbed a hand across the back of his neck in thought. "Well, it's something like that," he admitted hesitantly. He didn't have to be a telepath to know the silence on the other end of the line meant Squall was Not Happy. There was also a high chance that meant no sex as well. "I mean, without the loose women. That's more of Reno's thing, you know," he added in a rush.

"I recall a couple of girls hanging off your arm too, yo" Reno teased, _sotto _voice. Cloud shot him a glare that said he was still on his hit list and had better shut up if he knew what was good for him. It came off looking like he had lost a contact lens instead.

"_Oh really?" _Yep, Squall was not happy.

"They were just old friends from The Underworld who remembered me," Cloud dismissed. Drizella and Anastasia were definitely not the femme fatales they thought they were (no matter what their mother said). "You know you're my one and only." He ignored the whipping sounds coming from the peanut gallery. Now was not the time to go into who exactly was the whipped one in a relationship. At least he didn't live in fear of his boss.

Squall sighed and Cloud could picture him pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation. _"So what's this about a disfigurement?"_

"I got a tattoo." There. Short, sweet and to the point. He picked at the loose threads on Reno's couch while waiting for Squall's reaction. Despite the amount of leather and belts the brunet wore, his kitten led a vanilla lifestyle (well, at least before he came around) so Cloud wasn't sure where Squall stood on the whole tattoo thing. His brow creased in worry at the thought. Maybe he should look up some laser removal numbers in the phone book.

"_Really?" _Or not. That definitely sounded like a purr of interest in Squall's voice if he wasn't mistaken. _"What does it look like?" _And oh yes, that was interest in his kitten's voice that went beyond general curiosity.

Reno was glancing at him with raised eyebrows that probably had to do with the leer he was sporting. Cloud didn't really care because it looked like his weekend was about to get a whole lot better. "A large black demon wing that goes down my back," he answered.

"_How far down does it go?" _Squall's voice was like sin that promised all sorts of kinky delights, and it was all Cloud could do not to fidget in his seat. It looked like he was rubbing off on the brunet.

"Why don't you find out?" Cloud teased in a husky voice. Squall murmured a response and the blond quickly stood up from his seat. "Gotta go, Reno," Cloud said as he slipped his phone into his back pocket. He needed to get back to his apartment where Squall would be on his way shortly.

The redhead smirked and draped his long legs over the arm of the couch. "So this means you're not going to kill me now?"

Cloud watched a black SUV pull into the apartment complex parking lot. "I don't have to." He made his way towards the front door with a spring in his step. "Afternoon Elena," he said pleasantly when he opened the door.

"Strife," she answered tersely, her gaze locked onto the figure sprawled out on the couch.

Cloud let himself out just as he heard the cock of a gun and Reno's terrified shriek. Maybe a tattoo wasn't so bad after all.


End file.
